Articles - Page 47

The Top 10 AI Tools for Small Business: From Automation to a Coordinated Team of AI Agents

matt-garrepy

2014 was a busy year for the world of CMS.Another round of <a href="/cms-critic-awards/">CMS Awards</a> saw yet more platforms crowned champions of their sector by both the people and the appointed judges.Exciting new projects like The Grid were revealed for the first time, while existing powerhouses like Prestashop and Squarespace released major new versions. Ghost continued to grow, WordPress continued to dominate and the realm of open source continued to be awesome.The CMS Critic team, otherwise known as Mike Johnston and I, also made some waves. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.websitebuilderscritic.com/">Website Builders Critic</a> was launched, and <a href="/cms-critic-on-tour-paris-amsterdam-basel/">we traversed Europe to attend a range of events</a>, including Jahia One, Hippo Get Together and Magnolia.With that busy period now behind us, we can begin to look forward to another year's worth of excitement. So, what do we want to see?<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/macbook-480221_1280-1700x0.jpg" /><h2>1. More of Ghost</h2>Still relatively new to the scene, Ghost has impressed us thus far, and we'd like to see that continue.The blogging platform — which boasts a cloud-hosted as well as a self-hosted version — <a href="/blogging-platform-roon-io-acquired-by-ghost/">recently acquired Roon.io</a>, and is gaining traction are credibility all the time as a powerful, yet simple blogging solution.Quite frankly, Ghost is the most exciting platform to talk about at the moment. Not because it's the most powerful, or the most flexible, but because it has chosen an extremely popular niche (blogging) and has made it its sole aim to make life easier for those who take part in it. A bold and interesting mission.<h2>2. A Community Building CMS To Step Up</h2>Online communities and social networks are plentiful, and there are certainly a good number of enterprise solutions available to create excitingly powerful news ones.However, when it comes to the average startup looking for a cheap or even free solution, social networking and community CMS' are few and far between.Products like SocialEngine, PHPFox, Oxwall and Elgg are fine, but I'm not sure they're quite fine enough. In fact, they're quite equally not fine enough. I can't point at any of them as truly solid and encompassing solutions, and that's a big problem. I'd like to see at least one of them step up, or, failing that, another product step in.<h2>3. More Free &amp; Open source Awesomeness</h2>2014 saw the introduction of <a href="/hands-on-with-prestashop-ondemand/">PrestaShop Cloud</a>, the first truly free and open source cloud-hosted eCommerce solution. A massive milestone in the history of open source, in my opinion.Hippo CMS also showcased its contributions to the world of open source via its <a href="/how-open-source-software-transformed-a-nations-police-force/">digital reformation of the Dutch police force</a>. A riveting story about how open source software is changing the world.These are just two of the countless examples of free and open source awesomeness in 2014 alone, and we hope that awesomeness increases as we move into 2015.<h2>4. More Innovation</h2>All forms of software need to innovate in one way or another in order to survive. Nothing moves quite as fast as the Internet, so any CMS standing still is essentially committing suicide.Some notable examples from 2014 include <a href="/the-grid-artificial-intelligence-meets-web-design-or-does-it/">The Grid's supposed artificial intelligence</a>, <a href="/the-first-of-its-kind-pikock-launch-layout-slider-to-simplify-website-building/">Pikock's carousel style website builder</a>, and <a href="/remarkable-re-writing-the-content-management-experience/">Remarkable's “AXM”</a> release. Those kinds of innovations are great to see. New products with new goals, what else could we ask for?Also, with wearable technology now gaining traction in the real world, it will be interesting to see how the CMS world reacts as we move through 2015.<h2>5. More Accessibility</h2>Every CMS vendor in existence should be thinking about making their product more accessible.Although many website builders and other platforms have dedicated apps for mobile devices, Magnolia led the way for enterprise CMS by impressively releasing an <a href="/magnolia-the-worlds-first-mobile-optimized-cms/">iPad (and then a non-tablet specific) version of Magnolia 5</a>. It wasn't just responsive, it was functionally customized and tweaked for a mobile user's needs.Enterprising companies around the world are changing the way they work. Technology has eased the hours and days that the average employee spends at their desk or in front of a laptop. Modern enterprise platforms need to recognize this, and adapt accordingly.<h2>6. More Updates</h2>In 2014, both Ghost and LightCMS laid out an excellent example of how updates should be handled.Ghost <a href="/ghost-0-5-released-with-re-written-admin-ui-multi-user-support-more/">announced that it would release a small, yet worthy update every fortnight or so</a>, and they've stuck to their word. LightCMS didn't quite match that frequency, but they did success in releasing a flurry of updates throughout the year, each one relatively large, too.Understandably, not every product out there can match these two when it comes to constantly updating and improving. Each product has different teams behind it, different financial structures, different niches to serve, and so forth. However, I can't see any harm coming from my suggestion that more CMS should take a digital leaf out of Ghosts' and LightCMS' book.<h2>7. Less Fanboyism</h2>WordPress, Drupal &amp; Joomla fans, I'm looking at you in particular.Mike Johnston and I both touched on this topic a few times in 2014 (check out <a href="/wordpress-joomla-and-drupal-are-not-the-best-cms/">Why WordPress, Drupal &amp; Joomla Are NOT The Best CMS</a> as one example), but I think it's wise to really drive this point home. No CMS has a monopoly over any niche. Some products simply work better in certain circumstances, while others excel elsewhere. It's that simple.In 2015, I'd like to see the fanboy mentality ease off a little. Nuanced discussion trumps, “But WordPress/Drupal/Joomla rulez!”, every time.Well, that's everything on our list. What's on yours?

The World of CMS In 2015: What We Want To See

mike-johnston

Retiring a content management system and moving to a new platform always requires the (sometimes tricky) process of content migration.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/website_1464700489.jpg" />
Content migration is the process of moving existing web content to a new platform. Every website's content migration is unique depending on how much content you take with you as you jump from one platform to the next, as well as a handful of other factors.
<h2>Content Migration Tools</h2>
Each content migration process will most likely need both automated software/scripts and good old-fashion manpower to get the job done. Common content migration tools are outlined below.
<h3>A Project Manager</h3>
A dedicated project manager makes all the difference in facilitating a smooth transition to a new CMS. A project manager will keep everything on track by breaking the entire content migration process into smaller phases and assigning out roles and responsibilities. They will also promote communication between all team members, including content editors, content managers and IT.
<h3>Project Tracking</h3>
Project tracking is the process of mapping out aspects and phases of content migration. Examples includes listing out an inventory of your content and the all the steps involved in the manual migration workflow (including editing and reviewing web pages). Excel spreadsheets are your best friend when it comes to project tracking.
<h3>Automated Tools</h3>
You can purchase software or create custom scripts that can take existing content from your legacy CMS and shift it over to the new one. These content migration tools are ideal for large databases, document and media libraries, etc.
<h2>Getting Started: Evaluating Your Content</h2>
To make the content migration process an easy one, a solid foundation must be laid. It all starts with an understanding of your content and how it will be handled.
<h3>Take Inventory</h3>
Taking inventory of your content means understanding what and how content is managed through your legacy CMS platform. This includes metadata, webpage hyperlinks, file types, etc. Before any migration can start, it's a best practice to create lists for every type of content on your website. Each list should include where/how it is kept and managed in your current setup, and how it will be handled during the migration to the new platform.
The creation of each list can be done automatically using a software package or by developing a custom script.
<h3>Create a Content Strategy</h3>
This is where the manual work comes in. The next step is taking your content inventory and creating a strategy for moving it to your new platform.
This step includes combing through and assessing content and deciding what to take with you and what to leave behind. If content isn't necessary, it can be deleted and excluded from the migration process.
Another aspect of your content strategy should outline how much cleanup and revision is necessary for migration. If content has any technical requirements, like custom coding, this should be hammered out during this phase.
Additionally, this is where you should decide whether content migration will be carried out in an automated process or manually.
Tip: Moving to a new CMS platform can affect your content and how its handled and presented on your new website. For this step, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with your new CMS and understand how the platform handles everything, including aspects like page titles, authors, etc.
<h3>Map Out Your Metadata</h3>
Categorizing and tagging content becomes a really important organizational tool during the content migration process. Using a spreadsheet to track how content relates to each other across different sections of the website and other variables using tags and categories.
The overarching goal of mapping out metadata is to make all of your content easy to search, sort and filter within the back-end and front-end.
<h2>The Migration</h2>
After taking inventory of your content, creating a content strategy and mapping out metadata, it's time to migrate. If you've decided to go with the automated route, then it's a matter of developing scripts, migrating content, cleaning it up and then testing everything.
For those that are going with manual migration, a workflow should be set up that breaks down every step required to take an existing piece of content and turning it into a new piece of content on your new platform. The workflow should include steps like entering metadata, page titles, etc.
Finally, we've arrived at the testing/reviewing stage of the content migration process. It's important to make sure that your content looks good and displays correctly in all browsers and on desktop, mobile and tablets.
<hr />
[dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”auto” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]The Agility team provides professional services to ensure that our customers are smoothly migrated onto the Agility platform along with offering on-going customer support. <a href="http://agilitycms.com/services/support">Click here</a> to learn more about our support services. [/dropshadowbox]
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This post is <a href="/advertising/">sponsored</a> by AgilityCMS and written by Jillean Kearney, Marketing Manager at AgilityCMS. Find out more at <a href="http://www.agilitycms.com/">agilitycms.com</a>.

Best Practices: Migrating Content to a New CMS

<a href="http://www.telerik.com/" target="_blank">Telerik</a>, which was recently acquired by <a href="https://www.progress.com/" target="_blank">Progress</a>, <a href="http://www.telerik.com/company/press-releases/2015/01/14/progress-launches-new-cloud-mobile-development-features-in-telerik-platform-release-highlights-great-momentum-in-first-year" target="_blank">has announced</a> the introduction of cloud mobile development features to its popular Telerik Platform solution.
Over 40,000 organizations across 94 countries make use of Telerik products, including around 450 of the Fortune 500.
The aim of these new features if to help make mobile development a faster, more powerful experience for Telerik users. Currently, the Telerik Platform is the only cross-platform mobile development platform that combines rich UI tools and cloud services to build compelling apps, regardless of operating system, device or technology.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/telerik_logo-1700x0.png" />
<h2>New Marketplace, New Templates &amp; A Screen Builder </h2>
Telrik has certainly paid attention to the needs and wants of the average marketer working within their enterprising target market. Here are some of the major updates introduced to the Telerik Platform:
<ul>
<li>The new <a href="http://plugins.telerik.com/" target="_blank">Verified Plugins Marketplace</a>, a first-of-its-kind gallery of Cordova/PhoneGap plugins, creating feature-rich applications using open source Cordova APIs</li>
<li>Screen Builder (currently in beta) accelerates PhoneGap app scaffolding and enables both developers and business users to create 80 percent of the mobile app from pre-built and pre-wired screens – without ever touching code</li>
<li>New mobile app dev quick-start templates, making mobile development easier and more guided than ever</li>
<li>NativeScript, (still in private beta), the Telerik open source project, now includes robust support for CSS styling of native app UI, an improved cross-platform JavaScript framework, support for third party native libraries and the ability to build native apps using Command Line Interface.</li>
</ul>
As you can see, Telerik Platform solution has opted to streamline and simplify the design and development process, with their, “Screen Builder” and quick-start templates. 
Aaron Mahimainathan, SVP DevTools &amp; Platform, Telerik, A Progress Company, made these comments:
<blockquote>
“The Telerik Platform solution demonstrates our capabilities within the mobile space and our ongoing commitment to the developer communities we serve. Making the development process a seamless experience–regardless of the development approach–is a top priority. After many successes, including thousands of apps built, a global customer base and a ‘Visionary’ position in the Gartner MQ for Mobile App Dev Platforms, the latest Telerik Platform release makes it by far the most robust platform in the market for creating beautiful enterprise and consumer apps.”
</blockquote>
For more details on this update, check out the <a href="http://www.telerik.com/company/press-releases/2015/01/14/progress-launches-new-cloud-mobile-development-features-in-telerik-platform-release-highlights-great-momentum-in-first-year" target="_blank">Telerik press release</a>, and the <a href="http://www.telerik.com/" target="_blank">Telerik website</a>.

Telerik Platform Receives New Cloud Mobile Development Features

Today, on a crisp morning in the heart of beautiful Paris, <a href="http://jahia.com/" target="_blank"> Jahia</a> hosted their first ever international conference, <a href="http://jahiaone.com/" target="_blank"> Jahia One</a>. CMS Critic was in attendance – in the form of Mike, his wife Karlynn and myself.
The conference was off to a great start even before the the opening keynote began. Jahia's friendly team were initially expecting around 80 attendees for the Jahia One event, but as the conference neared, they realised that they were actually having to prepare their Pan Piper Centre venue  for a far larger amount of 170 people.  
 We live-tweeted the event using the <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23JahiaOne&amp;src=hash" target="_blank"> #JahiaOne</a> hashtag, with similar coverage planned for the second day of the event. You can catch up on those tweets, and follow them all again tomorrow, by checking out the <a href="http://twitter.com/cmscritic" target="_blank"> CMS Critic Twitter page</a>. 
 Here's a roundup of how it all went down on day one.
<h2>Passion from Jahia, Delight from Customers</h2>
Elie Auvray – the Jahia CEO, kicked off the event with an opening keynote, touching on the the importance of Jahia's customers and partners, whilst also praising his colleagues for their hard work and vision, and the attendees, for their presence and support.  
His time on the stage was short, but you sensed his passion almost immediately – setting the perfect scene for the day ahead.
 <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/eli1.jpg" alt="Jahia One Conference Elie Auvray" /> After his short keynote, Elie Auvray introduced the Mick MacComascaigh from <a href="http://www.gartner.com" target="_blank"> Gartner Inc </a> , who spoke extensively on the emergence of the new digital age, and the role platforms like Jahia have to help bridge the gap between bickering marketing, IT and business departments across enterprises around the world.
<blockquote>
“Synergy between IT and Business is vital for [the progress of] the new digital economy.” ~ Mick MacComascaigh, Gartner Inc.
</blockquote>
Mick gave a concise, yet thought-provoking view on what he called the “new digital economy”. He pointed out how Jahia's efforts were helping to make companies more internally cohesive, and thus more successful.  
 <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/gartnerdayone2.jpg" alt="Jahia One Conference Mick MacComascaigh" /> Jahia customers Ambercrombie &amp; Fitch and HomeAway were also both in atendance, detailing their digital journeys with Jahia, praising it's flexibility and explaining how the platform helped them to reach larger audience, scale their web presence, and offer a more flexible service.
<blockquote>
“One of the main reasons we chose Jahia was because it was so stable and secure.” ~ Taylor Pratt, HomeAway
</blockquote>
Both companies were proud to be running on Jahia, commenting on its positively evolving quality, and were eagerly awaiting the release of Jahia 7. 
<h2>A Glance at Jahia 7</h2>
Clement Egger – Jahia's Director of Product Marketing, soon got talking about <a href="http://www.jahia7.com/" target="_blank">Jahia 7</a> – the news everybody had been waiting for.  
 His comments touched on the enhanced speed and flexibility that Jahia 7 will bring to the table, focusing more on the technical side of how things will be changing for the better.  
Additionally, Egger spoke about Jahia 7's improved studio capabilities, re-designed administration panels, various framework updates, and so forth. The core principals he mentioned were focused on speed and greatly improved usability from a development standpoint. 
 <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/jahia.jpg" alt="Jahia One Conference Clement Egger" /> Clement, along with Auvray were both sure to point out that customers looking forward to Jahia 7 should not consider it a migration – but an upgrade instead.  
 What they meant was, the process of moving from Jahia 6.6 to Jahia 7 was planned and designed to be quick and easy. Elie Auvray specifically made a point to guarantee this to his customers.
In any case, day two of Jahia One promisesto unveil far more about Jahia 7, and we can't wait. 
<h2>Delicious Food, Networking and Interviews</h2>
Aside from the keynotes and presentations, there was more to see and do at Jahia One.  
 <img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/conferencedayone.jpg" alt="Jahia One Conference" /> Lunch was served in a brilliant networking environment, allowing atendees to converse and engage over some light foods. There was plenty of variety, and plenty to go around.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/conferencedayone1.jpg" alt="Jahia One Conference Anne de Forser" /> Jahia's Anne de Forsan was also getting attendees involved with video interviews, talking about their experiences with Jahia, and their views on the day so far.  The lunch session embodied the event, with a bubbly atmosphere full of professionalism – but not without a hint of fun and friendliness. 
 The first day was certainly an enjoyable one from our standpoint, and we expect that day two will be just as engaging.
 <a href="http://twitter.com/cmscritic" target="_blank"> Join us on Twitter </a>  tomorrow for day two of Jahia One, where we will be live-tweeting all the action and news from Paris concerning Jahia 7 and more.

Jahia One, Day One: Jahia 7, Glowing Feedback, and More

<a href="https://lemonstand.com/">LemonStand</a>, the ecommerce solution that <a href="/lemonstand-1-25m-funding/">recently secured an additional $1.25M worth of funding</a>, has made some significant updates to its admin panel and documentation section.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/lemonstand.png" alt="lemonstand" />
Unlike some of its competitors, LemonStand gears itself towards small, medium and enterprise-grade businesses, rather than to novice online merchants looking to dip their toes into the world of ecommerce.
<h2>“Lookin' Fly”</h2>
First of all, LemonStand are keeping themselves looking fresh:
<blockquote>
“We’ve completely rethought the admin panel based on your feedback. Not to mention, we gave our logo a facelift to keep us lookin’ fly in 2016 and beyond.”
</blockquote>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen-shot-2016-05-18-at-12_09_08-pm.png" alt="Screen-Shot-2016-05-18-at-12.09.08-PM" />
But the updates to the backend are more than just aesthetic. LemonStand has focused on improving the workflow through various ways, such as:
<ul>
<ul>
<li>More efficient use of screen space</li>
<li>A slick new sidebar</li>
<li>Reducing scrolling by having the save button always visible</li>
<li>No hidden fields while adding a product</li>
<li>Rethinking the menu to distinguish Setting up vs. Running your store.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<h2>Documentation Design Overhaul</h2>
<a href="https://docs.lemonstand.com/">LemonStand's documentation</a>, which is meant to guide users through the basics of running their online stores, has received a pretty big facelift.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/blog4-lemonstand-docs-2016-05-20-13-41-50.png" alt="blog4-LemonStand-Docs-2016-05-20-13-41-50" />
LemonStand themselves admit that, “Our old docs were kind of bunk, and we know it.”
As well as making some design changes, they've filtered out a lot of older and less useful information, and kept all the good stuff.
Documentation plays a big part in the support system of any CMS, so although many will see this as an insignificant change, it's actually a very important one.
To find out more about this update, check out <a href="http://blog.lemonstand.com/doc-revamp-visual-refresh/">LemonStand's blog</a>.
And as always, the <a href="/lemonstand/">LemonStand hub</a> is a good place to start your research on the platform.

LemonStand Revamps Admin Panel & Documentation

<a href="https://www.1202software.com/" target="_blank">1202</a> is a highly flexible CMS which describes itself as a, “Multi-purpose, pluggable, cloud-based system for managing, publishing and sharing any kind and any amount of content.”
The cloud based platform, which boasts a source code that's ten times lighter when compared to WordPress, can manage, and publish any kind of content.
You can use 1202 to create a website, manage, categorise and archive content, make plans, databases and directories, as well as a whole lot more.
Quite frankly, 1202 can be used for almost anything data or content related, giving it uses for both online and offline projects. This makes it a very malleable platform, a characteristic which has its pros and cons, which I will be exploring throughout this review.
Furthermore, 1202 is pluggable, meaning that you can integrate it with existing softwares and platforms in order to add functionality. 
<h2>First Impressions</h2>
As per usual, I will begin this review from the product’s digital doorway — the vendor website.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-2700x0.png" alt="1202Software" />
1202’s website is clean and simple, but the layout and navigation didn’t sit well with me.
The introductory video, which is a core part of the homepage, gave a five minute walkthrough of how to use some of the software’s features, but it didn’t actually explain the product. What (and for whom) was it for? I wasn’t really getting the message.
The navigation menu at the top of the page wasn’t saying much either. Where was the “About” or “Features” menu item?
Thankfully, I was able to find such information by scrolling down the homepage, where 1202 gives some insight into their product:
<blockquote>“The development of 1202 was fueled by the need for a system that was versatile and easy to implement as well as use. It was originally intended as a content management system, like WordPress or Joomla, but the scope broadened considerably due to client demands.”</blockquote>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-3700x0.png" />
Okay, now things were making a little more sense. Good thing, too, since I was about to jump into exploring the product itself.
<h2>A Look at What 1202 Actually Is</h2>
Before I talk about actually using 1202, I thought it would be appropriate to delve into exactly what it is.
Frankly, 1202 isn’t a typical CMS.
Kasimir den Hertog, the founder of 1202 software, has stripped away the user friendly interfaces which he deems to be limitations to those who truly want to build something powerful and unique.
The removal of those limitations makes 1202 tough to use for the average website builder.
Reminiscing on his thought processes when developing 1202, Kasimir den Hetog said:
<blockquote>“…I asked myself: “How can you build the most flexible system possible, a system that can manage virtually anything and has the least limitations?”
The database is ultimately where all content is stored. You can’t really run a CMS without a database. This means the database is the true limitation. Having the least limitations therefore means staying as close as possible to the database.
This is basically what 1202 does: it interfaces with a database in a very direct fashion.”</blockquote>
1202 currently powers Dutch care organisation Omring, as well as the <a href="https://cyclingdatabase.com/">Cycling Database</a>, which contains data for the thousands of Cycling races, teams, rankings and more.
<h2>Getting Started</h2>
My first (admittedly minor) gripe with 1202 came when I went sign in for the very first time.
1202 sends you an automated password once you sign up — a mixture of jumbled letters and numbers — which is absolutely fine.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-5.png" />
What isn’t fine however, is the fact that the login screen rejects copy and pasted versions of this password. Instead, you have to type it all out, even when you are automatically logged out after inactivity. Granted, this isn’t a huge deal, but for a platform designed to be simple, the login process really should be more, well, simple. 
When I finally signed in, I was presented with yet another pretty, but slightly overwhelming dashboard, giving me a big indication that 1202 isn't for newbies. It's not ugly by any stretch of the imagination, but it is quite plain, and it is very professional.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-4700x0.png" />
1202 is divided into four sections: ‘Content', ‘Model', ‘System' and ‘Log'.
<h3>Content</h3>
The “Content” section is where you can manage core content like text and images, as well as files, tags, users and guides.
Via the “Text” section, you can create page content. This section includes a simple WYSIWYG editor, enabling you to insert images, configure text fonts and colours, insert hyperlinks, align elements, and so forth.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-9700x0.png" />
You can upload images within the WYSIWYG editor, or you can use the dedicated “Images” section, where you may then add filters if you wish.
Creating filters is done via the “Content” section, appearing a sub-menu on all the possible sections. For example, clicking on “Text” brings up a second menu, where “Filters” is listed.
A filter is basically a search query, which can be used to easily find items, and also to hook items up to model blocks. This will ‘feed' the model block with the items in your filter. Perhaps this will make a little more sense when I discuss the “Model” section, later on.
If there are saved filters for the particular container/view, these will be shown at the top of the “Overview” section. Clicking a filter changes items listed according to the filter selected.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-8700x0.png" />
<h3>Model</h3>
Models translate the system's content for retrieval, for example, in order to view your content as a website. Each model consists of one or more blocks, which you ‘feed' with content by linking them to content filters. You can output the content as JSON or model the blocks with tags like HTML or XML and “1202 script”, which can manipulate the content you feed into it.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-10700x0.png" />
The “Overview” section here works just like in the “Content” section, showing you a list of current models.
Clicking “New Model” will allow you to give your model a name, description, group (which allows you to filter through models via the “Overview” section), and also a URL. Further down the page though, is where it gets interesting.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-6700x0.png" /> 
A drag-and-drop interface allows you to create new model blocks, within which you can drag-and-drop filters. Model blocks can be given names, and they can all be arranged in a whatever position you like, allowing you to essentially design a webpage.
Each model can be given one of two output types; JSON or Custom code.
<h3>System</h3>
System-wide information, settings and features are brought together in the ‘System' section.
<img style="display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-7700x0.png" />
You can change the title of your entire project, switch between languages (Currently English and Dutch only), set remote access permissions by IP address, view storage usage, and more.
Furthermore, the “System” section also allows you to create new containers, which then show up on the “Content” section, ready to be populated. You can also use the “System” section to import data via copy and paste.
A final feature of the “System” section, is “Trash”. Here, you can retrieve recently deleted items, like images for example. Such a feature could save a lot of trouble over the course of a project set up, I definitely like the fact that 1202 has it in its arsenal. It's a simple, yet effective feature which we unfortunately don't see often enough within the CMS world. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-12700x0.png" />
<h3>Log</h3>
The last section of 1202, is the “Log”. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-11700x0.png" />
As the name implies, here is where you will find all user activity, neatly logged. It also displays recent errors which may have occurred. Again, this is a handy feature, and one which 1202 makes easy to use as an everyday management tool, just like with the “Trash” feature.
<h2>User Experience</h2>
As I tinkered with the configurations and different areas of 1202, I slowly began to understand the way in which it worked. The key word here is slowly, because to be honest, 1202 simply isn't very easy to use. There's a steep learning curve, that's for sure.
Don’t get me wrong, the general functions and features of the platform made sense, and worked very well.
But because 1202 is relatively unique in its workings, and extremely flexible in the way that it can be used, I wasn’t able to rely on my past experiences of using CMS. It was a completely different animal.
Is this a problem within itself? No. New and daring products like 1202 deserve praise for working outside of the box.
What I’m saying is, 1202 needs to ease users in. Sure, there’s documentation (which I will discuss later), but after signing up and logging in, you can't help but feel a little overwhelmed and alone.
I’d suggest implementing an interactive user guide, which is activated when a new user signs up. The guide could give users a tour of the product, and perhaps offer to walk the user through some simple tasks — like building a website homepage.
Website builders (which are of course, much simpler beings) use this method to make website building newbies feel as ease. 1202 should do this to make everybody feel at ease, simply because it doesn’t work like most other platforms out there in the general market.
Overall though, I thought 1202 was pleasant to use. It got confusing at times, but never annoying. One issue I found though, was the “Update”/”Save” buttons on the right-hand side of the screen, found when editing items. 
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-13700x0.png" /> 
The problem is, these item pages can be quite long, but the buttons don't scroll with you. So, working further down the page means you have to scroll up before you can click save. Not a major issue, but definitely something than can be improved.
<h2>Getting Help</h2>
1202 offers some comprehensive documentation, along with a ticketing system.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-14700x0.png" />
The documentation is extremely detailed, and actually very helpful. Each section is broken down and explained, although I wouldn’t quite call it layman's terms. Once again, 1202 isn’t for beginners.
The ticketing system is found via the “My 1202” section on the 1202 website. It's straightforward stuff, thanks to a simple form. The “My 1202” section is also where you can view your account settings, logout, delete your account, and so forth.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-15700x0.png" />
<h2>Pricing</h2>
1202 charges $12 per month (or €10.89 for EU users) for a reasonable service.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/sshot-17.png" />
This monthly fee only gets you 1GB of storage though, with each additional GB costing another $1 per month. So, if you have a large project on your hands, you will end up dishing out quite a lot more than the initial $12 per month.
I'm not a fan of this payment structure, as I'm sure many people would prefer to pay for a set amount of storage. 
<h2>The Verdict</h2>
1202 is an extremely powerful platform — that’s a given. Yet it can also be used for simpler tasks, if need be.
As far as functionality goes, I have zero problems with 1202. It’s multi-purpose, it’s fast, it’s flexible. It does exactly what it says on the tin.
It can be used to create a myriad of website types, apps, databases and so forth. However, you do need to know your way around coding and web development. Working with 1202 is a very elemental experience. It’s certainly not for those looking for a spoon-feeding CMS.
So, my worries are not about 1202’s ability. My worries are about its execution.
Design and user experience tweaks need to be made to both the 1202 website and the product itself, just to smooth off the edges and tighten the overall brand of 1202.
Furthermore, 1202 is still a relatively raw product. It’s pluggable, but there are no readily available plugins or integrations to begin working with. It’s extremely flexible, but there aren’t any templates or starting points to get your creative juices flowing.
It’s like a lego set, in a way. Everyone loves building with lego, especially if you know how. But the pictures on the box and in the instruction manual give you something to aim for — something to build on.
As previously mentioned in this review, 1202 needs something to ease users in, and show them the ropes, perhaps to showcase the power of the product. Because as of right now, It's feels like a platform reserved for those who already know how to use it.
<h4>Pros</h4>
<ul>
<li>1202 has an extremely wide range of uses. The platform encourages developers to be creative in this sense.</li>
<li>Although slightly plain, 1202 is sleek and highly professional when it comes to aesthetics.</li>
<li>Cloud-based, super fast and super lightweight.</li>
<li>Pluggable, ideal for hooking on to existing projects/integrating with other platforms.</li>
<li>Multi-user support and user roles, with the ability to create guides.</li>
<li>Easy uploading, importing and exporting features. </li>
<li>Very detailed documentation with a simple ticketing system for extra support.</li>
<li>The “Log” section lets you keep track of all user activity, with users, dates, times and IP addresses all being logged.</li>
<li>“Trash” feature allows you to recover recently deleted items.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Cons</h4>
<ul>
<li>1202 needs an interactive tutorial/demonstration if it is to attract a broad user base.</li>
<li>Not the easiest platform to use.</li>
<li>More storage needs to be included in the price plan, or additional price plans needs to be introduced.</li>
<li>General design flaws: the 1202 website needs to be tweaked for easier navigation, the product itself looks a little bit bland, and saving/updating buttons should scroll as the user scrolls for better usability.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Final Remarks</h2>
Simply put, 1202 gives you the building blocks to build almost anything content and/or data related. The blocks aren’t conveniently arranged for web development newbies, but maybe that just means that the pros out there can have more fun figuring it all out.
Perhaps the full potential of 1202 lies within its ability to attract a community. 1202 is a product that will likely thrive under the banner of the masses, as each developer crafts a new type of website, app and ready-to-use integration/plugin into existing software, thus further expanding the product’s scope.
To obtain such a following though, 1202 needs to now turn towards the “smaller” stuff, as I have mentioned throughout this review. I would recommend focusing on introducing a more inviting website, an interactive tutorial of some kind, and an overall better user experience right from the start.
Until then, 1202 is essentially a young, powerful, flexible, yet very raw platform.
Update: 13/02/2015
Since the completion of this review, some additions have been made to 1202, improving it as a product. 
The 1202 website is now much swankier than before. It's also far easier to navigate and understand, too. This is mainly due to a much needed colour injection, and also to some quotes from this very review which help to describe what 1202 does. Kasimir, the 1202 founder, has even incorporated my previous “Lego” reference, making it part of the website's design — which I thought was pretty awesome.
Furthermore, 1202 now has a detailed tutorial <a href="https://1202software.com/support/tutorial/setting-up-1202-as-a-website-cms" target="_blank">which explains how to set up 1202 as a website CMS</a>.

1202 Review

<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/forms-approval631x0-is.jpg" />
Today’s workplaces are being crippled by an avoidable parasite. We’ve all been overwhelmed by it at times… Desks cluttered with papers, inboxes clogged with unread messages, paralyzing and restricting our productivity. Even with so much technology available, many businesses struggle to reduce email traffic, automate forms, and simplify processes. Thankfully, there’s an easy answer: an office intranet. This platform is a fantastic tool for streamlining communications through forms workflow. Not only will this increase productivity, but it will also bring additional business benefits, which we’ll look at below.
What Is ‘Forms Workflow’?
Firstly, it’s important to understand what forms workflow actually is. To break it down, ‘workflow’ refers to the sequences of activities needed to complete a task; while ‘forms’ refers to all of the related paperwork and processes. Essentially, forms workflow is all of the standard tasks you go about on any given day at the office and anything that’s related to getting them done.
Paper-based Systems: Why They Belong In The Stone Age 
Let’s look at a common issue that occurs with paper-based systems. Suppose one of your sales team calls in sick and wants to file for a day’s sick leave. He can’t remember where the right form is kept, and after a few minutes searching through the company’s shared folders, he emails one of his colleagues to ask for a form. They send him the appropriate form, he fills it out, and emails it through to his line manager for approval. Come pay day, the sick leave doesn’t go through. Your rep calls his line manager looking for answers and finds out the form was lost in an <a href="https://www.myhubintranet.com/too-much-email/">overflowing inbox</a>. When the manager finds his form, turns out it can’t be approved because the form was outdated by several years!
Even if the above example is a little over the top, it’s clear that relying solely on paper and email is a flawed system. Countless hours are wasted through duplication and distraction, and this is happening across thousands of businesses as we speak. Such wastage extends beyond sick leave requests and includes performance reviews, training, inductions, expense filing, sales orders, and all manner of HR activities. Avoid these inefficiencies, and your organization will gain a distinct advantage.
It’s clear that switching your business to automated processes comes with significant advantages. However, what’s not so clear is which system to adopt, at least initially. A lot of choices exist, all promising to streamline, automate and enhance your forms workflow. One of the most important questions to keep in mind while evaluating options is whether or not to use a cloud-based solution. Many businesses overlook cloud-based intranets as a viable option when in reality they meet all of the requirements for effective forms workflow and generate several other organizational benefits too. Below we compare two potential workflow management solutions, one software-based and the other cloud intranet.
Software Solution For Forms Workflow
Starting with the positives, the majority of forms workflow software solutions are capable of providing security, and simplicity. Most will allow you to automate requests for leave, sales orders etc., and the subsequent <a href="https://www.myhubintranet.com/approval-forms/">approval process</a>. Features such as exchanging and tracking documents are also standard.
However, your typical forms workflow management software does come with some rather significant disadvantages. Mobile and remote access is generally not available, meaning that your sales people out in the field are handicapped, as well as your executive traveling to a conference, and your IT manager working from home. Not having access to such an important part of your workforce is really not a viable option in today’s world with the flexible nature of work. As well as this, any software solutions which do have mobile access typically aren’t optimized for small screen sizes. Text can be hard to read and links difficult to click.
As well as this, the target market of forms workflow software is usually large-scale businesses, with a range of complicated needs. For such organizations, such a solution may actually be the answer. However, for smaller-scale businesses, there’s no need to pay for expensive features that will go unused, and only serve to complicate the service. Software solutions also require regular updates and management, and struggle to integrate well with other office systems due to their stand-alone nature.
Is Cloud-based Intranet The Answer?
Want all the advantages outlined above, but none of the disadvantages? Then the answer is cloud intranet. This solution offers forms management on a single, integrated platform, with a range of business tools such as news, blogs, corporate calendars, forums, surveys and newsletters.
Customisable business forms are standard with <a href="http://www.myhubintranet.com/category/cloud-intranet/">cloud intranets</a>. Often built-in templates will exist, easy to select and modify. You can even create personalized business forms with simple drag and drop features. This vastly transforms your employees’ experience of tasks such as applying for sick leave. Imagine how much simpler it would be for one of your sales team to file their sick leave when all he needs to do is log in to the company intranet? No more searching for archaic forms, using up the time of colleagues and waiting on email-swamped managers to approve. Just a few clicks of the mouse and the issue will be sorted at both ends. Now that’s refreshing.
Adding to this, the document management systems offered by cloud intranet is truly one of a kind. Both secure and efficient, these systems feature tools such as tagging, full content searching, permissions, indexing, bulk movement of documents, and file sharing. All of this, in an easy-to-use, manageable format.
You’re probably sick of losing contact with your field staff and traveling executives. One of the big benefits of cloud intranet is its ability to be accessed remotely—all that’s needed is a device with an internet connection. Fully compatible across devices, there’s no need to worrying about cloud intranets being mobile optimized. On top of this, intranet security is high, with most offering two-way SSL encrypted connections, combing with layers of security embedded. Company data will be as secure as possible with a cloud intranet
But Wait, There’s More (Beyond Just A Cheesy TV Line…)
As well as a great <a href="https://www.myhubintranet.com/forms-workflow-office-intranet/">forms workflow system</a> and thorough document management, cloud intranets come with several other additional business tools, which:
<ul>
<li>Greatly improve communications</li>
<li>Allow information to easily flow throughout your business</li>
<li>Decrease time spent on company information updates</li>
<li>Enable and encourage collaborative work</li>
</ul>
Productivity and efficiency are enhanced by the many features that come with a cloud intranet. Collaboration with colleagues is easy, even across different time zones and locations; all company events and deadlines are held in an easily visible company calendar; while breaking news, info and celebrations can be shared through the newsfeed. These benefits will guarantee a far greater return on investment than a standard software solution ever can.
If you are looking to improve your forms workflow, then talk to the team at <a href="https://www.myhubintranet.com">MyHub</a> about how a cloud intranet can assist with this and many other business processes.

Revolutionising Business Processes With An Office Intranet

Concrete5, the winner of the CMS Critic Award for Best CMS for Designers of 2015, has approved <a href="https://mithra62.com/projects/view/backup-pro">Backup Pro</a> for inclusion into the <a href="http://www.concrete5.org/marketplace/addons/backup-pro">Concrete5 Marketplace</a>.
This means that developers of Concrete5, version 5.7 and above, can have a solid backup solution built just for them that's been vetted and approved by the Concrete5 community. This marks the 6th version, and 5th CMS, that Backup Pro has released for, previously releasing versions for WordPress, ExpressionEngine 2&amp;3, PrestaShop, and Craft.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/backup_pro_screenshot_0_1455484724.png" alt="Backup Pro - Dashboard" />
If you're not familiar, Backup Pro is a CMS agnostic backup plugin/module/package for various content management systems. Backup Pro has been around for over 5 years and been under development the whole time, constantly adding new features and innovating, and contains everything a solid disaster recovery solution should have.
You can take backups from web requests, REST interaction, and the console or terminal, store backups wherever you need (Amazon S3, Rackspace Cloud Files, Dropbox and 5 other locations), and customize the “what” and “how” to your hearts content.
And now, Concrete5 users can backup their website files and database using Backup Pro, being as granular as they need/want, and then store those backups where ever they need in however many copies they need.
You can purchase Backup Pro for Concrete5 from the <a href="http://www.concrete5.org/marketplace/addons/backup-pro">Concrete5 Marketplace</a> as well as backup-pro.com.

Concrete5 Marketplace Gets Backup Pro

Power your CMS on AWS

Manage your websites & apps in the most trusted cloud.

#ffffff

I will be the first to admit that I do not have the best recall. If I do not somehow capture what is inspiring me at that moment, odds are it will be forgotten and lost forever. Bo.lt allows you to keep whatever inspires you on the web, forever! Here is a quick review of this service.
<h3>Bo.lt it and its Yours … for Good</h3>
Save photos you find across the web or just save the whole page. Bo.lt Makes it easy to save and share what you like on the web. We have seen similar services before and sharing web pages and photos is not new. Where Bo.lt is unique is that when you save the photo or you save that website it is yours forever. They actually make a copy of the whole page and thus eliminating broken links.  Bo.lt boasts that you can save anything you find on the web forever.
<h3>Using Bo.lt</h3>
The act of “bolting” stuff you find on the web is quite simple. Bo.lt give you several ways to save what you find on the web, add a comment, and assign a picture:
<ol>
<li>Chrome extension Just browse to a page you want to “Bo.lt” and click on the icon in Chrome's toolbar.</li>
<li>Bo.lt Bookmarklet similar action as the Chrome extension for other browsers.</li>
<li>Email to photo@bo.lt or email@bo.lt</li>
<li>Use the plus sign at bo.lt</li>
<li>Use bo.lt/url method</li>
</ol>
<a href="/bolt-quick-review"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bolt_addpage.png" /></a>
Creating “bolts” is easy enough what about sharing? You can share individual bolts or an entire collection using the “share” links provided. Others can follow all of your bolts or just a collection. Commenting is also allowed on bolts which makes collaboration fast and simple.
<h3><a href="/bolt-quick-review"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/bolt_comment.png" /></a></h3>
<h3>Why would I use this?</h3>
Lack of consistent recall aside, I can think of at least a couple of reasons this service could be useful.
<ul>
<li>Saving the site's look at that moment.
<ul>
<li>Most web pages are dynamic and therefore change often. If you want to share a snapshot of the way a site looks at the moment, this would fill that need.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Web Design Portfolio
<ul>
<li>Make a collection of your website designs across the web and easily share them with clients. Perhaps before the owners of these sites made design changes after you handed them the finished product.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
For more information and to try it out yourself visit <a href="http://bo.lt" target="_blank">http://bo.lt</a>

Bolt - A Brand New Social Network for Saving Web Pages Forever

I kid you not, if you want a high-converting marketing strategy that can help you get qualified leads — or even sales from the get-go — then you need to start running live webinars.
What makes live webinars awesome is the fact that not many people use it despite its capacity to bring in money — truckloads of money, to be more specific.
I mean, sure, there might be several people using live webinars right now. However, unlike those who market through blogging, publishing social media posts, and other marketing methods that don’t require them to interact with their audience in real-time, those who run live webinars can still be considered as a minority among marketers.
Of course, you can’t blame others for not joining the live webinar bandwagon. After all, running a webinar requires preparation, technological know-how, and confidence that would enable the presenter to engage with their audience without choking in fear (among other things).
<h2>Which Webinar Platform to Use</h2>
While there are several amazing webinar platforms online, I’d like to highlight <a href="https://clickmeeting.com/" target="_blank">Clickmeeting</a> since it is down hands down one of the best in the industry.
Not only that, but the platform is dead easy to use, and their subscription plans are very affordable, too.
Without further ado, let’s look into the strategies that you can use to turn your live webinars into money-making machines.
<h2>1. Affiliate Links + Resources Page</h2>
The idea is quite simple, when running a live webinar, you can add a resource page where you can direct those who are participating so they can use the same tools or products you’re using.
You can add all your tools to your resource page then use an affiliate link for each of your tools. That way, should your participants use them, you’ll get passive income.
If not in your resource page, you can add the affiliate links to your online tools in your “Waiting Area.”
Because Clickmeeting’s platform is very intuitive, you shouldn’t have any problems setting up your waiting area and adding your tools and your affiliate links there.
When setting up an event, Clickmeeting will allow you to set up the specifics of your live webinar (like your waiting room).
Here’s how setting up your waiting room looks in Clickmeeting.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pic1678x0-is.png" />
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pic2566x0-is.png" />
The platform looks pretty intuitive, doesn’t it?
When you have your affiliate links in your waiting area, your participants won’t have a hard time finding all the tools you’re using so they can start purchasing it for themselves,
<h2>2. Offer a Coaching or Membership Program</h2>
Coaching programs and live webinars are a match made in heaven.
Whether you’re still in the process of bringing your prospects into your membership program, or they’ve already subscribed to it and are now looking to learn from you, you can use live webinars to help you accomplish your goals.
For example, in the case where you’re still convincing your audience to signup for your program, you can tell them about your coaching offer within the live webinar.
Also, since you’ve already captured their email addresses during registration, you can retarget them by sending compelling email messages in the future.
When setting up your registration form, be sure not to overwhelm your audience with questions or unnecessary registration requirements.
Checkout ClickMeeting’s registration templates to have a better idea of what information others are asking for on their registration page.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pic3737x0-is.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pic4.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pic5.png" />
As you can see, asking for your participant’s name and email address are often enough. However, if you need to add other fields to your registration to run your live webinar effectively, then you can go to the “Fields” section. You can also go to the “Other” section if you’d like to add more details about your event on your registration page.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pic6.png" />
<h2>3. Sell Your Live Webinar</h2>
Why make money out of your webinar one time only — during your live event — when you can record the whole thing and sell it again and again, instead?
If you do this, you’ll get more mileage out of your live webinars.
For as long as your webinar isn’t outdated, you can continue offering it to your audience.
What’s more, there are several ways you can use a recorded webinar:
<ul>
<li>
You can use it as a lead magnet.
</li>
<li>
Sell it as premium content.
</li>
<li>
Turn it into a gated content so others would have to make some sort of action (like sharing, liking, commenting, etc.) before they can access it.
</li>
<li>
Turn it into a freebie.
</li>
<li>
Or you can add it as an upsell on one of your other courses.
</li>
</ul>
If you use your imagination, the possibilities of what you can do with your live webinars are limitless. And it all starts with you recording the entire thing so you can use the content several times over.
If you aren’t familiar with how to record your webinars, Clickmeeting has a built-in feature for that. You no longer need to use third-party apps to start recording. Simply go to the “Settings” tab, then tick the “Recording Auto-Start” box.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pic7.png" /><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/pic8.png" />
<h2>Bonus Tips for Conducting Live Webinars</h2>
Just like in most things in life, live webinars will only do you wonders IF you’re doing it right.
No matter how powerful the method is, if you’re doing everything haphazardly, you won’t get far with what you’re trying to accomplish.
That being said, allow me to share with you four tips to help make your live webinars more successful:
<ol>
<li>Pre-market the event. Think about doing a mini product launch. It wouldn’t be wrong of you to approach your live webinars with that kind of mindset because webinars are, in fact, products in their own way.</li>
<li>Engage your audience. Ask them questions. The last thing you want is to keep on blabbering for countless minutes. If you don’t mix in questions or other engaging activities in your webinar, your participants will most likely get bored.</li>
<li>Don’t be afraid to pitch your products/services.</li>
<li>Focus on benefits and not features. 99% of the time, your participants joined your webinar because they need something and they think your webinar can help them obtain what they need.</li>
</ol>
That being said, quit talking about how your product has hundreds of features. Instead, focus on telling your audience how easier their life would be if they had your product.
Remember that there is a big difference between features and benefits. Be sure to highlight the latter.
<h2>What’s Next?</h2>
How have you been milking your live webinars?
Is there a <a href="https://blog.clickmeeting.com/live-webinar">webinar guide</a> that you can share with our readers that can help them with their journey towards monetizing their live webinars effectively?
If you answered with a “yes,” then please share your thoughts in the comments section below. Cheers!

Strategies to Turn Your Live Webinars into Money-Making Machines

With the exponential use of mobile devices it is becoming common to expect sites to adapt to tablet and smartphone screen resolutions. You want mobile site visitors to have a pleasant browsing experience and ClickTale Mobile gives you a unique perspective in this regard.
Site owners go through many pains at times to make sure their site brings the best mobile experience possible. Maybe you hired a developer to morph your site into mobile-friendliness using CSS and media queries. Maybe you spent hours finding just the right WordPress mobile responsive theme. Whatever path you decided to travel you have put in the effort, now you want to see if it has paid off.
ClickTale is bringing their web experience analytics to mobile. While it is important to see if mobile users are accessing your site, ClickTale takes it a step further in that you can actually “watch” the user as they browse the site. Now before you call “foul” and start making references to 1984's “big brother”, think about what valuable information is obtained when you actually see somebody browse your site:
<img style="max-width:577px" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/screen_shot_2016-03-02_at_18_34_40_jhznbo.png" />
<ul>
<li>Are users tilting their device into landscape or portrait mode?</li>
<li>What areas are being tapped and swiped across most often?</li>
<li>Are users zooming in more than you had planned?</li>
</ul>
In order to present the best mobile experience, you need answers to these questions. ClickTale Mobile can give site owners and developers the aggregated data to make informed decisions on mobile design improvements. You can even watch individual sessions as video playback. This way you can actually see what is working and what is causing your users frustration. Do you have a high bounce rate for mobile users? ClickTale Mobile can show you why.
This becomes even more apparent when we think about mobile eCommerce. Online shopping is huge, but when not using a huge screen it can be a huge frustration. Keep your users on your site even when using mobile browsers. Design your eCommerce to respond and do not lose potential buyers. The buyer may be inspired to purchase while all they have is their phone or tablet. If they have to wait until they get home to their computer to have a decent shopping experience you have probably lost a customer, forever. Don't let that happen! Use these tools and make your site part of the mobile experience hall of fame.
For more information and to join in on the private beta go to <a href="https://contentsquare.com/clicktale/" target="_blank">www.clicktale.com/mobile</a>.

Watch Your Mobile Site Visitors with ClickTale Mobile

JahiaOne day two opened with a introductory keynote from Jahia CEO, Elie Auvray.
During this announcement, a number of key announcements were made including the official date of the new major release of Jahia 7.
For those who've been following along  <a href="http://twitter.com/cmscritic"> on Twitter</a>, you'll be aware that Jahia 7 is a significant improvement over the prior 6.6 release.
For all of the latest details about the conference, feel free to follow us using the link above or tracking the hashtag, <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23jahiaone&amp;src=typd"> #JahiaOne</a>.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/eli.jpg" alt="Elie Auvray" />
Elie Auvray, Jahia CEO
Here are the main points from the keynote:
<ul>
<li>Jahia 7 will officially be available on April 1, 2014.</li>
<li>Jahia xCM is being renamed and will now be known as Jahia Digital Factory.</li>
<li>Jahia Wise is being renamed and will now be known as Jahia Workspace Factory.</li>
<li>There is a new and improved Jahia Studio paired with the Jahia 7 release.</li>
<li>One of the key features of Jahia 7 is the introduction of Private App Stores.</li>
</ul>
To get more details on everything that the Jahia 7 release includes, visit the dedicated website: <a href="http://www.jahia7.com/">http://www.jahia7.com/</a>
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/emanuel_1jpg.jpg" alt="Emmanuel Garcin" />
Emmanuel Garcin, Jahia VP &amp; General Manager Americas
In addition to these announcements, Emmanuel Garcin, VP &amp; General Manager Americas presented Jahia's new partner program initiative that strengthens the company's relationship (and the way they work) with their existing and future partners.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/emanuel.jpg" alt="Emmanuel Garcin" />
More details on this new partner program and how it works will be unveiled soon. In the meantime, you can visit the Jahia Partners portion of their website.
As always, stay tuned for our upcoming day two roundup later after the close of the conference and for full conference coverage, be sure to <a href="http://twitter.com/cmscritic">join us on Twitter.</a>

JahiaOne Day Two - The Opening Keynote

Mobile Marketing is huge and businesses around the world are scrambling to find ways to reach mobile customers in new and innovative ways. There are an estimated four billion mobile phones in use around the globe, 75% are SMS-enabled and 27% are smartphones.  It goes without saying that this is the market to be in if you are an advertiser.
ExactTarget has foreseen this and has announced the release of their new mobile marketing tool, MobileConnect.
<h2>What is MobileConnect?</h2>
MobileConnect is a tool designed to make it easy to create, target, send, and track SMS marketing campaigns.It integrates with their <a href="http://www.exacttarget.com/interactive-marketing-hub.aspx" target="_blank">Interactive Marketing Hub</a> as well giving you a unified view of each customer across all your marketing channels.
Here are some screenshots to give you a better idea as to what it looks like / how it works:
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mobileconnect-01-message-editor-620x430.png" alt="Send personalized SMS marketing campaigns and preview your messages." /> Send personalized SMS marketing campaigns and preview your messages.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/booking-image11_dfmdbb.png" alt="Store your customer data in the Interactive Marketing Hub to easily create email and mobile marketing campaigns." /> Store your customer data in the Interactive Marketing Hub to easily create email and mobile marketing campaigns.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/mobileconnect-03-message-details-620x465.png" alt="Gain access to real-time reporting on your SMS program performance." /> Gain access to real-time reporting on your SMS program performance.
<img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2023/08/best-social-network-software_al3f93.gif" alt="Manage SMS marketing alongside other interactive channels with one central calendar. " /> Manage SMS marketing alongside other interactive channels with one central calendar.
The SMS functionality within the system allows marketers to send SMS messages in over 80 countries which makes it a valuable asset for those with either a local or global presence. Also, within the application, you can easily manage short codes,  add or remove keywords, and edit subscriber lists.
Looking to do some reporting? MobileConnect offers real-time reporting on your SMS program performance, including summaries of opt-ins, opt-outs, messages sent, and delivered. There is also the ability to utilize a host of template ranging from quizzes, surveys, and contests to mobile tickets, alerts, and coupons.
According to ExactTarget CEO, Scott Dorsey:
<blockquote>
“With the launch of MobileConnect, ExactTarget is democratizing mobile marketing, providing a new approach that makes mobile more accessible and easier to use than ever before. Our revolutionary approach to mobile enables marketers across all segments of the market to easily create and integrate SMS into interactive campaigns across email, social media and the Web – all through an intuitive user interface that serves both beginners and highly technical marketers.”
</blockquote>
Interested? You can learn more about MobileConnect on their website: <a href="http://www.exacttarget.com/products/mobile-marketing.aspx" target="_blank">ExactTarget MobileConnect</a>

ExactTarget Introduces MobileConnect to Help Businesses Market Across Mobile Devices

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